Be A Believer (SO important): Simply put – If you don’t truly believe you can reach your goals you won’t – end of story. To be an achiever you just gotta be a believer – otherwise you will not fully commit to your goal and any obstacle in your way will throw you off course. To build belief in yourself try this nifty little trick: Take a few minutes each day to visualize yourself already having reached your goal. See yourself looking and feeling amazing!!! Make it real and feel the excitement and bask in your awesomeness. Before you know it – you will be your biggest fan!!!

Keep Your Eye On The Goal: Ask yourself, “Does this behavior or food move me closer or farther away from meeting my goal?” This simple little exercise not only creates the pause often needed to avoid negative behaviors but also gives you a nice reality check!

Wellness Above Weight Loss: Instead of focusing on weight loss (such a downer!), focus instead on wellness (feeling great, increasing energy, being healthy) and weight loss will end up being a side effect of a greater goal.

Prepare Ahead: Preparation is always always the key. Skipping this uber important preliminary first step will set you up for failure like nothing else! So purge that pantry of yours of all junk and inflammatory foods that make you feel and look yucky and restock with heathy promoting foods that make you look and feel fabulous!!! Make the effort to prepare some simple meals ahead of time and freeze them in portion size containers so that you are always a step ahead of your hunger.

Focus On What You Can Have Rather Than What You Can’t: There’s just nothing more depressing and “crave-producing” than thinking about all the foods that are not on your plan. It’s just a matter of time before you cave and give in to temptation. My advice: Flip this to focusing on all the delicious and healthy foods you can have instead – there are SO many!!! All you need is a mind-set switch from depravation to decadence 🙂

Adopt The 80/20 Rule: It’s NOT about being perfect and SO about sustainability and aiming for 100% with no wiggle room for fun is a big fat recipe for failure! Giving yourself that 20% loophole is way more realistic and will result in keeping you on your game not throwing you off. And most importantly…

Get The Right Plan: Egg whites and spinach may seem like the perfect breakfast but not if you’re sensitive to either one or both. Eating your body weight in protein may be fine for gym rats with good digestion but not for peri-menopausal you with your elevated leptin levels (everything in excess turns to fat!). A diet of 80% raw veggies sounds so uber clean and healthy doesn’t it? Well not if you’re little miss IBS – we are talking major bloat and discomfort here – not fun! My point here is that everyone is different with unique biochemistries and individual nutritional needs. Getting a plan that addresses your individuality is paramount to your wellness and your weight loss success. No one plan is right for everyone but a plan that addresses your individual food sensitivities and specific nutritional needs is the right plan for anyone.